The Louisiana Purchase

What was it?What was it? The Louisiana purchase was the largest land

purchase in our nation’s history. When it was completed it more than doubled

the size of our nation. The final purchase price was 15 million

dollars! The purchase was very controversial at the

time. Technically it was a steal! Purchase gave way for the Lewis and Clark

expedition

Why? Why? We needed water routes at this time. Our farmers needed

the Mississippi River to ship goods to the port of New Orleans, which led into the Gulf of Mexico.

Thomas Jefferson knew this and he sent Robert Livingston and James Monroe to negotiate with Napoleon Bonaparte’s minister Charles Talleyrand.

Originally we only wanted to buy the port of New Orleans and some of the surrounding land.

The French decided to sell the entire expanse of territory because they needed money to prepare for a war with England.

The DealThe Deal The French told Livingston and Monroe that the United States

could have the entire territory of Louisiana for 15 million dollars!

Jefferson’s instructions only allowed Monroe and Livingston to pay 10 million for the port of New Orleans, but Jefferson also told Monroe before he left how important it was we acquired the territory so Monroe accepted the offer on April 30th, 1803.

We knew we needed more land for agriculture. Jefferson knew this because he himself was a planter from Virginia.

We took out loans from both the Barings Bank of London and Hope and Co. of Amsterdam to get 15 million dollars.

What now? What now? Once we had the territory there were many unanswered

questions that needed answering.

One question was whether our country could acquire new territory.

The territory was already occupied by Native Americans as well as French speaking settlers, what were we to do with them?

We also wanted to know just what we had purchased.

Some still believed a Northwest passage existed. People wanted to know whether we had acquired more trade routes.

This last question as well as others gave us cause to send a military expedition into the territory.

Lewis and ClarkLewis and Clark

The ExpeditionThe Expedition Thomas Jefferson intended to send an expedition to explore

the west before asking Meriwether Lewis to explore it. The Louisiana Purchase was a good reason to send an expedition.

Jefferson authorized Lewis to designate a co-commander. Upon receiving the news Lewis asked William Clark if he would like to join him on the expedition. Clark agreed and they began collaboration.

The expedition left St. Louis, Missouri on May 14, 1804. They began their journey in a 55 foot long keelboat as well as two smaller boats and sailed up the Missouri River.

November 4, 1804 Lewis and Clark hire French-Canadian fur-trader Toussaint Charbonneau and his Shoshone wife, Sacagawea, to act as interpreters on the journey ahead.

The ExpeditionThe Expedition By December 24, 1804 they finished building their winter

encampment which becomes Fort Mandan in present day North Dakota.

The expedition continues further west and on August 17, 1805 they arrive at a camp of Shoshone Indians and Sacagawea is reunited with her long lost brother Cameahwait.

On October 16, 1805 the expedition arrives at the mouth of the Columbia River. This is the last waterway to the Pacific Ocean.

November 24, 1805 the expedition arrives at the Pacific Ocean. Upon arrival everyone votes on where to set up camp including Sacagawea and Clark’s slave York.

The end of the lineThe end of the line On March 23, 1806 the expedition hands over their

encampment to the Clapstop Indians and begins their journey home

September 23, 1806 the expedition arrives in St. Louis, Missouri two and a half years after they began the trip.

Although they never discovered a Northwest Passage the information the expedition gathered was monumental. 179 species of plant and trees which, had never been documented were cataloged. 122 different animals were also documented. The expedition also made contact with 48 different Indian tribes. With all of the knowledge gathered numerous maps were made and we had a better understanding of what we had purchased.